When looking internally, nearly two thirds of UK businesses are worried about the impact of climate change on their own organisation. Amongst those that claim to have a sustainability strategy, three quarters require additional skills to implement it.
Whilst a third of UK engineering employers have a sustainability strategy that includes making their organisation net zero, employers who do not have all the skills they need to lower their environmental impact report that they are lacking specialist sustainability skills, knowledge, whole systems thinking and agile mindsets amongst others.
UK employers are among eight nations to favour upskilling/reskilling, however, the UK is the nation least likely to offer training in new technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality and simulations.
In terms of the education system, shockingly, the UK falls substantially behind other nations with almost two thirds of employers agreeing that the education system does not prepare graduates well for industry.To combat this, nearly half of UK employers suggest more industry placement years and over a third think more industry targeted projects will better prepare graduates.
Stephanie Baxter, head of policy at the IET, said: “The skills deficit means we are not ready and resilient to tackle climate change, both in the UK and beyond. Net zero needs the trifecta of an industrial strategy, innovation funding, and support for upskilling the UK workforce to become more internationally competitive.
"Agility and whole systems thinking are key skills for reaching net zero and adapting to climate change, and more should be done to encourage this in the workforce. It is vital businesses prioritise training and upskilling for employees that focuses on resilience skills, particularly around innovative thinking and problem solving.
“Industry confidence in the UK’s education pipeline is remarkably low by international standards – so greater collaboration between industry and universities is required. This includes targeting placements in areas of critical skill deficit, such as nuclear technologies and digital twins.
“Employers are missing an opportunity on digitalisation and net zero. We need UK Government to help facilitate upskilling in the sustainable use of technologies, such as AI and digital twins where skills in these areas are expected to be more important than ever in the future.”
The research for the IET was carried out online by YouGov from 21 August – 10 September 2023 amongst 2,142 adults working in engineering employers in Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the USA.
To find out more, please visit theiet.org/greenskills.
